Regular readers of this forum have seen plenty of discussion of the harmful economic impacts linked to government policies proposed to promote “green jobs.”

Now Human Events weighs in with an editorial on the topic:

Our economy is just beginning to feel the choking grasp of soaring fuel prices around its throat. Growth requires motion and motion requires energy. The cost of energy is tied into the cost of virtually everything else… and our dependence on foreign energy sources puts us at the mercy of long, oily tentacles that reach back into the most unstable parts of the world.

This dependence is the predictable result of deliberate policies, from locking private industry out of Alaskan oil fields, to hounding oil rigs away from the Gulf of Mexico. Some of these policies have been pursued in defiance of court orders, so they cannot be dismissed as momentary lapses in judgment.

The Obama Administration is intentionally choking the life out of America’s dynamic, highly mobile economy. All of the “alternative energy” fantasies it sustains with taxpayer money share the common feature of reducing choice and freedom. Solar panels produce energy when it’s sunny outside. Wind turbines provide power when nature sees fit to provide wind. Electric cars can be driven only short distances, after the owner completes a cumbersome recharging procedure. “High speed rail” is nowhere near as fast or convenient as personal automobile use or air travel.

All of these “alternative solutions” would move America to a lower level of energy, in which citizens would spend a great deal more time waiting instead of doing. This reduced level of activity would be much simpler for statists to manage.